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Messages - tickstock

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76
Agencies and buyers are not the problem, it's contributors who undervalue their work, they could sell at 50% at a reasonable price, but they choose not to.
Really? Are the laws of supply and demand suspended from this marketplace?
I don't follow.  If everyone chose to put their work on the highest paying sites then the lower paying sites would go out of business.  For the most part they don't own any of the supply, we do.  And to add to this, not all content is equal.  If there are 1,000,000 images of apples but none of oranges what does supply and demand say about the price of oranges?
They won't all put their photos on the highest priced site will they? Over supply will drive down prices in any market. You could try and choke off supply but I doubt it will happen.
Not necessarily the highest priced, what I said was "highest paying".  I meant sites that pay higher royalty rates.  Supply is harder to define here not all content is a commodity maybe images of apples are but other subjects aren't.  Just because there are millions of apples doesn't mean that will be useful for people looking for oranges.

77
General Stock Discussion / Re: Fair Royalty Split
« on: April 04, 2019, 11:30 »
Why are you asking this?

78
I don't follow.  If everyone chose to put their work on the highest paying sites then the lower paying sites would go out of business.  For the most part they don't own any of the supply, we do.

In theory. It really sounds great.

But you can't have one perfect store where every customer would be happy to shop forever and the management won't go crazy next month for whatever reasons.

It's an utopia.
I'm not saying that.  If lots of people move to a higher paying site then other sites will pay more to stop losing content, a race to the top instead of a race to the bottom.

79
Agencies and buyers are not the problem, it's contributors who undervalue their work, they could sell at 50% at a reasonable price, but they choose not to.
Really? Are the laws of supply and demand suspended from this marketplace?
I don't follow.  If everyone chose to put their work on the highest paying sites then the lower paying sites would go out of business.  For the most part they don't own any of the supply, we do.  And to add to this, not all content is equal.  If there are 1,000,000 images of apples but none of oranges what does supply and demand say about the price of oranges?

80

You did just say that the lower the royalty rate for us the better the agencies can market.  Prices and royalty rates matter and both are the reason there is a race to the bottom.

Yes, I agree with you.
You do?  I thought you said there was no race to the bottom.

81
..
eta: I also find the similars ok, as a buyer for me this is perfect. I hate having just one or two images from a series to chose from, I very much prefer to do my own selection.

Obviously, I dont want to see 200 images from the same shoot, but an intelligent selection of 30 images is great, if they are all nicely done and useful.

yes - I often get a block of downloads of similar; I figure designers DL several images and decide later

the argument of sales dilutions makes many unsupported assumptions - biggest one being sales of 1 image impact another ( so 6 individual sales worse than 6 of 1 image)
6 individual sales compared to 1 image getting 6 sales is worse because the next week your 6 images will be much lower in the search than the 1 image with 6 sales.  You're less likely to sell any of those 6 images again while the 1 image is more likely to sell. 

82
Point is that our competitors, other contributors, choose to sell at 15%. I can't compete with that.

Yes, but you don't compete on %, but on final price of the product. If you mean IS, then, as I remember, their subscription is more expensive for a customer than SS.
You did just say that the lower the royalty rate for us the better the agencies can market.  Prices and royalty rates matter and both are the reason there is a race to the bottom.   

83
VideoBlocks / Re: How to leave as a contributor
« on: April 03, 2019, 15:57 »
What has happened to them? They have gone from quite reliable to very pathetic. I've sent them emails about how useless they've become and they always reply with the same stock standard BS.

They now have ample clips in their wholly owned collection to fill most of their needs. That was the plan all along, to ultimately phase out the paid collection so they get more subscribers that do not have to pay more doe for clips once they lay out the cash for the subscriber model. I think many here pointed that out early on and questioned VBs long term intent.  Those hypothesis came true and sure enough VB cut commissions and could now care less about the contributors who helped make them successful.
I just looked back at what I said about them in 2015 "I've stayed away from VB.  If they become successful they force other sites to lower prices and then what happens if they decide to take 50% royalty or if they stop licensing videos and only promote their free offerings.  I'm going to say away and most likely this year go exclusively with Pond5"
I didn't go exclusive with P5 since then but I did put more work on there than anywhere else.  It should have been obvious to everyone what VB's plan was all along.

84
I know I buy things at the cheapest places

So do the buyers.
I really can't understand it...

"Exclusive" RF asset is more expensive, it is available in only one store and the whole "aura" of exclusivity is so misleading, it is never ever exclusive. What is the benefit of paying more? And still being ready that your competitor will buy the same stuff.

In addition to this, agencies make more money on non-exclusive content. So basically, they use the word "Exclusive" to sell more non-exclusive stuff.

This is what is happening on IS, I can buy a subscription to get non-ex, or I can buy a subscription and get ex+non-ex. So non-ex content has 100% chance to be sold, while ex content has only 50% chance. And in those 50% they will still compete with cheaper non-ex library.
Looking at this closely...

Exclusivity is a pure scam for an artist and a perfect marketing "story" for the agency.

I couldnt agree more
Somehow I'm still making a full time living from it.  If all your content is the exact same as everything else you'll struggle exclusive or not.

85
"Do I have the right to buy a stock image of a world map and then use it in my stock videos and put it for sale in stock agencies ?"

No.

Ok, so even with an extended licence ?
I don't know of any that allow that kind of use, you could buy the copyright.

86
daryl,

why do you consider the artists to be victims??

You are coming across as pretty negative, like producers are naive little dolls who have no clue what they are doing.

My experience is the exact opposite, this industry is full of very shrwed people with good working brains. But also kind and supportive.

Maybe spend more time with the community before you judge them.
I thought he was saying we should be trying to find ways of getting more for our work.  I don't see that as being a victim.  I do think a lot of people are naive, I've seen people talk about how much they are getting and be completely wrong more than a few times.  Being naive isn't a bad thing as long you try to figure it out.

87
Most DLs in at 18 months.

88
I'm not sure anyone is arguing that you should do anything to be part of a community or because someone wrote that you should.  There are actual arguments and facts presented here.

Have you deleted your SS potfolio already too? Or someone else should do it first?

Fact: SS didn't change its pricing for 15 years straight. Why did you start uploading there at all?
I deleted all my photos years ago and I'm going to delete my videos shortly. 

89
Like I said before you have to have people willing to pull their media from sites and you won't get enough people to even make the big agencies think twice. The best bet is to support sites like Stocky, Pond5 and Adobe!!

Why don't you pull your media from SS first as a great leader?

Sorry, but all these slogans which involve other people's money sound scary.

For sure, huge studios that have 10-50 people on salaries will go and pull their 500.000 portfolios tomorrow, just because they read something on the forum and want to be "a part of the community".
I'm not sure anyone is arguing that you should do anything to be part of a community or because someone wrote that you should.  There are actual arguments and facts presented here.

90
Pond5 / Re: It's official, you are exclusive.
« on: March 28, 2019, 01:38 »
But you have to make sure you keep full control of prices.

No hijacking of your content for unannounced experiments....

If they make these little games voluntary opt in only...it will be a different thing.

But the artist portfolio should be truly their private kingdom and castle.
I'd actually like them to have a reasonable minimum price.  If they are serious about stopping a race to the bottom then they should set a reasonable minimum.

91
Pond5 / Re: It's official, you are exclusive.
« on: March 27, 2019, 15:38 »
As a freelancer, being tied to P5 somewhat contradicts that. My income comes from multiple outlets including Shutterstock and AdobeStock. Never say never, but for now I think I will watch how thing develop.
As an exclusive artist you could still call yourself a freelancer if that's important to you.  My understanding is that you can put some files on P5 exclusively and others nonexclusively.  Maybe you can be even more of freelancer by adding that option.

92
Pond5 / Re: It's official, you are exclusive.
« on: March 27, 2019, 12:31 »
My point is to adapt and think how to make money in volume with penny sales, because there will be more of them with AR and VR and the growing internet. And if we're lucky, we will stay at 0,38 on SS :)
I see have completely embraced the race to the bottom.  We should be thankful for penny sales and grateful for whatever the agencies give us.  We have no control over the situation it's just lucky they still pay us.   I hope you really don't think that is a recipe for a successful business or will in any way be sustainable.

93
Pond5 / Re: It's official, you are exclusive.
« on: March 27, 2019, 11:49 »
I'd like to think my work is worth more than "at least something".   I can't imagine doing another job where they said at least we'll pay you something sometimes.

Stock photography/videography is not "the job". If you think you will have a "salary" being exclusive, you won't.
I honestly don't understand what point you are trying to make here, it sounds like you think we shouldn't be getting paid at all.

94
Pond5 / Re: It's official, you are exclusive.
« on: March 27, 2019, 11:35 »
Or is it there is a race to the bottom and there is nothing we can do about it, going exclusive will just lose you sales while changing nothing?
Yes, even in the worst case scenario you will "win". At least some sales, at least for something.

Exclusivity will lead you to the same state as the market is. But only on 1 website. And if it goes out of business you will lose everything.
I'd like to think my work is worth more than "at least something".   I can't imagine doing another job where they said at least we'll pay you something sometimes.

95
Pond5 / Re: It's official, you are exclusive.
« on: March 27, 2019, 10:55 »
So is your argument P5 will probably screw everyone over in the future so lets stay with the sites screwing us over now?  At least that way you don't lose search position.

No, go with a marketplace that will screw you over exclusively :D

Search positions mean sales. No search positions = no sales.
So then is the argument there is no race to the bottom the only risk for contributors is going exclusive?  Or is it there is a race to the bottom and there is nothing we can do about it, going exclusive will just lose you sales while changing nothing?

96
Pond5 / Re: It's official, you are exclusive.
« on: March 27, 2019, 10:36 »
Your argument is that P5 will follow the market which will reduce sales to near zero therefore you should stay with the market and get to zero faster?  And if the market goes to zero what is there to come back to?  Your argument at best seems to support taking the "quick" money because it's all going collapse anyway.

To stay in the market and adapt and don't lose your positions on the largest marketplaces.

I was exclusive on IS for many years and I see how they still sell my images from 2010 today. Now it all crashed, but images still sell. Only on IS :D and nowhere else, because I didn't want "to sell my masterpieces for cheap! bla bla bla"

And now I'm here starting it all from zero.
So is your argument P5 will probably screw everyone over in the future so lets stay with the sites screwing us over now?  At least that way you don't lose search position.

97
Pond5 / Re: It's official, you are exclusive.
« on: March 27, 2019, 10:25 »
A matter of perspective. If you are on the inside, you just got a 20% increase and better price protection.

With the risk of losing it all in 5 years. Even 1,50 sales. Because P5 will follow the market. With or without exclusive collection. Isn't it?

It is really maybe the last chance to make "quick" money. But better save them all then. Because after it all fades, you won't come back that easily.
Your argument is that P5 will follow the market which will reduce sales to near zero therefore you should stay with the market and get to zero faster?  And if the market goes to zero what is there to come back to?  Your argument at best seems to support taking the "quick" money because it's all going collapse anyway. 

98
Pond5 / Re: Letter to pond5 and quick Poll for contributors
« on: March 26, 2019, 14:47 »
How to fight it is an evolving question, but he was receptive to my point that Pond5, while viewing exclusive content as a way to maintain value, also needs to work more with non-exclusive contributors on solutions to maintain the value of non-exclusive content.
What are the solutions other than not supporting sites that pay less? 

99
Taking three minutes to keyword important words accurately is more efficient than getting 50 mostly inaccurate keywords in seconds. People actually want their images to be found and to sell.
I like using AI for faster keywording.  It's good to get a lot of the simple words I sometimes forget but then I always take a step back and add my keywords too. 

100
Not a good month here..

Not here either. I see the poll here SS has been dropping but is higher then IS exclusive now. Are more leaving or did the Exclusive income drop?

I suspect very few exclusives (probably fewer than 5) report now, and I'm pretty much a bottom feeder these days (since subs, PA etc.)

Good thought maybe Leaf can tell us.
I think exclusive numbers only count if that's the only entry.  If you have RM at Alamy or video anywhere else your earnings get reported as nonexclusive.

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